Construction of south county jail still years away

The businesses that will design and supervise construction of a new jail in south Tulare County have been chosen, but breaking ground on it still is years off.

Assistant County Administrative Officer Kristen Bennett told the county Board of Supervisors on Tuesday that construction on the jail isn’t scheduled to begin until May 2016, and construction of the 514-bed facility is expected to be completed two years later.

Once built, the planned “South County Detention Facility” would be the first jail in southern Tulare County. The others are in Visalia or north of the city, on the county’s northern area.

A $60 million state grant is paying for most of the project, The county already has bought a 76-acre parcel of farmland near the Porterville Municipal Airport where the jail will be built.

Bennett told the board that getting to the point construction can begin will be slow because of the various reviews of the project and the planning the state will require beforehand.

On Tuesday, supervisors voted to authorize a $5.35 million contact with Hellmuth, Obata and Kassabaum, Inc., an architectural and engineering firm with multiple U.S. and overseas offices, to design the jail.

The supervisors also authorized a second contract worth $3.03 million with Phoenix-based Kitchell CEM, Inc. to oversee the jail’s construction.

The total cost of the project is estimated at about $67.9 million, with Tulare County footing $7.9 million of that cost in the form of dollars and administrative work provided during the jail’s planning and building.

Bennet said the construction costs alone will total about $51 million.

Eleven architectural firms submitted bids for the project, Hellmuth, Obata and Kassabaum, a report to the supervisors states.

the explained that because of the extensive review process that will be upervisors t